Lots of Snow

It's been snowing for days on end -- the pretty, fluffy, slow-falling kind -- and this morning we woke up to a beautiful wonderland.  By noon, the kids couldn't take it anymore.  Whether it's 16 degrees or not, they just HAD to be out in that glorious snow!  They got themselves bundled and out the door in five minutes flat.

They ran right to the pile on the deck (that their loving dad makes for them as he shovels our pathways) and started "gophering" through.

They remembered that it would be nice to sled on there first before it was full of holes and tunnels though, and spent quite a bit of time going head first into the yard instead.  I love that in our completely flat city yard, we can still sled-ride.

Out front, the snow was piling up even higher because of the snowblower drifts.  It's so super cold out that the snow is still soft under foot -- it just collapses under your boots -- making it fun just to walk in.

Chloe's hair was full of snow and ice chunks!

Every breath made a steam cloud around our faces!  Sixteen degrees -- brrrrr.

Meanwhile, out back, this was what the kids were up to while I was in the house earlier on.

So many tunnels they squeezed themselves into and back out of.  This was the first time we've had snow like this that was perfect for tunneling.

I tried to sneak as many pictures as I could of the kids playing.

Evan was onto me but tried to play it cool, you know, he 's ten.

The attempts to build little snowmen ended up with quite a few tears and frustrated feelings.  The snow that was great for tunneling was not so great for packing into snowballs... strange.

I do think though that the tears were due more to that fact that these two went outside at noon, (without any lunch!) and didn't come back in until 3:30pm!!!  Crazy snow-loving kids!

Decorating

Instead of following the crowd and decorating the day after Thanksgiving, we thought we would breathe a bit; slow down and enjoy a few weeks of early winter without thinking about the next big event.

So, now two weeks away from Christmas we are starting to prepare -- the tree is up, the ornaments are hung, a few decorations are around the house, outside lights are strung, and Christmas music is playing for a while each day.  This feels so much more natural and just right for our family.

The kids LOVE decorating the tree -- our first live tree which we are so happy with.  They help pick out new ornaments each year, and finally this tree is starting to reflect us and what we really, really like.  Our tree has never been pretty or stylish, but it has always been us.   ("I like us" -- that's for you Bryce.)

Evan wears Todd's slippers every day.  So cute.

Now the real countdown to Christmas day begins (in fractions if you are one of my children).  Only 10 and a quarter days and 11 nights till Christmas!

Two Trees

This year for Christmas, we got two trees.  

One for our cats and one for us :-)

Another Comic by Chloe

Chloe's been continually drawing and making her little comic strips.  She and Evan recently got super into the Pigeon books by Mo Willems and his art is very inspirational for comic drawing.  Combine the pigeon with a bit of Garfield humor and you have some good laughs.

"Read" this from right to left, like all kids see things.

I have stacks and stacks of this stuff sitting around here!  I can imagine Chloe as a woman someday going through her keepsake box and snickering at her cute little self, can't you?  hahaha

Snow Day

Over the weekend, Todd took the kids out to sled-ride on a nearby hill.  They were gone for hours and came back tired and smiling -- the best kind of outing, right?

Chloe likes to get a running start from really, really, really far away. I guess she gets more speed this way, and we get to snicker at her as she slows down just before diving on the sled anyway.

Evan is just a blur of motion while in the snow, and most of the pictures of him were of his boots or some empty snow where he zipped by.....

Evan said this hill was just about the same size as Jed's backyard hill, only not as much fun without Jed there too.  But he did still have a great time.

(We had spent the afternoon at Jed's early last week, and the kids were outside sledding for about three hours.  So, yeah, he has a lot of fun with his friend.)

I vote for Dad taking the kids sledding more often!

Home-Built Jeep

Evan is so proud of this Jeep he designed and built entirely from cardboard.  He had some help from his Dad to make some of the cut-outs, but other than that this was all him.  The opening hood, the winch, the interior complete with all four seats and working steering wheel, the axles and exhaust pipe made from cardboard tubes, the working doors with fold-down windows (just like Dad's!).... He really thought of every detail.  He even drew in taillights and the back door handle. 

He brings it in to park by his chair at mealtime, he puts it beside his play space with Chloe when they are playing 'Transformers and Horses' or 'Jeep Town,' he carries it all over the place and impresses any visitor who looks at it.  Since these pictures were taken last week, he put his model engine inside the hood -- the only Jeep ever to be equipped with v-8 power.  What a proud builder he is!

Smile!

Chloe's other front tooth wiggled itself loose on Sunday after church, following a weekend of "baby food" and a barely-holding-on snaggletooth.  She is thrilled beyond words that it's over and done with!

Last night, she had a revelation about her Dad being the one who has been playing tooth fairy all these years (he's stealthier than I am!).  She knows we won't lie about it, but over the years we've just dodged it with "I can't tell you that!" or "Hmmm... I don't know....."   But when she asked, "Mom, do you wake up in the night to put money under my pillow?" I answered truthfully, "No."  And this sent her reeling with a new idea -- "Dad is the fairy!!!!!!"  (I laughed really hard when she announce that.  Todd did not.)  Kicking her feet and squealing, she had it all figured out.  She asked him if he ever put money under her pillow at night, and he said Yes.  Pretty pleased with herself, she could not stop smiling.  We all went to bed that night feeling the end of an era.

Fast forward to this morning.  Chloe woke me up early, and in my groggy state she kept probing me.... "Aren't you going to ask me anything?"  over and over.  When I finally realized what she was talking about I said, "Did the tooth fairy leave you some money??"  Her smile was gone.  "No," she answered.  Um.  What?!?  She said she even looked inside her pillow.... Dad must have forgotten.  So I called him.  He said he did in fact forget and he was so sorry.  I asked her to check again.  Maybe she didn't search thoroughly.  This time she dug deep into the pillow case and heard money rattling around!  Her toothless smile spread wide across her face, and her eyes bugged out.  Maybe she hasn't solved the mystery after all......

(I may have smuggled money into her room in my t-shirt and 'straightened' her bed a bit before I called her dad..... But she didn't ask me if I had anything to do with it!)